Tech companies are spending big on 2025 NYC races

Ten years ago, ride-hailing giant Uber fought an unwanted regulation from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration with a special in-app feature. A pop-up titled “de Blasio’s Uber” showed no cars available or 25 minute wait times, prompting users to email City Hall and the City Council to fight the legislation.

This year, the company is taking a more traditional – and slightly less hostile – approach to influencing local politics. 

The ride-hailing giant – which has grown significantly since its early days in New York City and which has also faced new regulations – is one of a handful of now-established tech companies that are wading into city races with their wallets this year. 

Uber has its own independent expenditure committee, seeded with $2.5 million and just over $1 million of it already spent on a dozen City Council candidates. The company has also donated $50,000 to a committee led by the Real Estate Board of New York.

Short-term rental company Airbnb also has its own committee, with $5 million in the bank – a figure it says it will double for city and state races – with just over $1 million of it spent on 11 City Council candidates, the public advocate and one borough president candidate so far this year. And the Airbnb-backed PAC is launching a new ad this week that will target three candidates for mayor – Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and former city Comptroller Scott Stringer – who have opposed relaxing the city’s short-term rental law, though the video ad doesn’t actually get into those specifics. 

And the food-delivery app DoorDash has its own committee, with plans to spend up to $2 million on City Council candidates, in addition to the $1 million it has already donated to a separate independent expenditure committee boosting former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s run for mayor.

Each of these companies has faced regulation from City Hall and the City Council that they’ve already spent plenty lobbying on or fighting through litigation in the last few years. That includes the law restricting short-term rentals in New York City that some council members have recently sought to amend, and minimum pay laws for ride-hail and delivery workers. And other legislation remains pending in the City Council that’s of interest to the companies, including a bill to extend paid sick leave to gig workers and a bill lowering required liability insurance for drivers.

In statements about their spending this year, spokespeople for Uber and DoorDash referred more vaguely to supporting candidates and policies aimed at affordability and economic growth.

“Politicians have allowed costs to skyrocket for drivers while making it harder for them to earn a living,” Uber spokesperson Josh Gold said. “We are supporting candidates and causes who foster policies that improve affordability and access to transportation.”

“In recent years we’ve seen a wave of policies emerge from New York City that, while well-intentioned, have often had unintended consequences,” John Horton, DoorDash’s head of North America public policy said. “These policies have made it harder for local businesses, Dashers, and consumers to thrive. We’re committed to supporting leaders who prioritize practical, pro-local economy solutions that encourage growth and innovation.” In the mayor’s race, Cuomo fit that bill, Horton added.

While none of these companies are new to spending big bucks on lobbying legislative bodies – or in Airbnb’s case, setting up massive PACs – their sizable direct spending on New York City elections this year has caught the attention of lawmakers and organizations that back stricter regulations or laws aimed at securing gig workers affiliated with the app-based companies more protections.

The tech spending was even a topic of discussion at the first mayoral primary debate last week, with candidates – including Cuomo – saying they would holding companies like DoorDash responsible for reckless e-bike driving. Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani questioned whether the former governor’s pledge would hold given the company’s support of his candidacy.

It’s not clear that candidates who are supported by Uber’s PAC would back their priorities either. As The City reported, Uber is spending in support of Council Member Crystal Hudson, though she’s a co-sponsor of a bill that Uber has testified against. But the PAC is also spending in support of a challenger to Council Member Shahana Hanif, who is a co-sponsor on that bill and the sponsor of a separate bill that would extend the city’s paid sick time law to gig workers.

Airbnb’s large campaign war chest has also prompted criticism from organizations fighting the attempts to relax New York City’s short-term rental law. “If your business model can’t survive basic oversight and regulation, it shouldn’t come at the cost of New Yorkers struggling to afford their rent and homes,” Whitney Hu, director of civic engagement and research at Churches United for Fair Housing, said in a statement. “Corporate greed shouldn’t dictate housing policy.”

Those affiliated with the sector see the level of spending from tech companies this year as a natural result of the industry’s foothold in the city. “I think it mirrors the growing size of the industry here in general,” Julie Samuels, executive director of the industry group Tech:NYC, wrote in a text. “The tech sector has added jobs in NYC at (a) rate 10x any other industry over the last five years, so it only stands to reason that these companies would play a more active role in local electoral politics.”